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This year marks the 36th annual Illinois Wesleyan University Jazz Festival and will feature a performance by Grammy-nominated composer Steve Wiest. Wiest and the IWU Jazz Ensemble will perform on Saturday, Jan. 22, at 12:45 p.m. in Presser Hall’s Westbrook Auditorium. The event is free and open to the public, but it is specifically targeted as a non-competitive clinic for jazz students.
Wiest played and wrote arrangements for the Maynard Ferguson Band for many years and is a notable jazz trombonist. He has also toured throughout the United States, South America, Australia, Japan and Europe.
His solo CDs include “Out of the New” (2008) and “Excalibur: The Steve Wiest Big Band” (2006). Wiest received the 2007 Best Instrumental Arrangement Grammy for his unique “Bésame Mucho.” He currently serves as an associate professor in the Jazz Studies Division of the College of Music at the University of North Texas.
Professor of Music Tom Streeter originally founded the IWU Jazz Festival in 1976to encourage young musicians to continue playing. Currently, 13 different junior high and high school jazz bands are scheduled to participate in the event.
Streeter noted that this year’s festival goals include improving “the quality of jazz in Illinois by having professionals on jazz instruments work with bands and present clinics on their specialties.”
Students will play for judges and attend clinics known as “master classes” throughout Presser Hall. These clinics will be led by musicians from across the country who will work with the students.
“I wanted this to be an event where students could come without pressure, or feeling brow-beaten to excel. It was designed to be a chance for students to really learn from professionals,” Streeter said. Wiest will give his performance after a morning of leading master classes.
This year’s jazz festival will be the last hosted by Streeter, who is retiring at the end of the academic year. He has served for 40 years as director of the Illinois Wesleyan jazz program and for 36 years as head of the Jazz Festival. The jazz program will celebrate its 40th anniversary this year, and
The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Gospel Festival will return to Illinois Wesleyan University on Monday, Jan. 17, from 3 to 9 p.m. in the Westbrook Auditorium Presser Hall.
“Dr. King visited our campus not once, but twice,” said Carl Teichman, director of government and community relations. “This festival is a way to remember that he was a part of both the Illinois Wesleyan and Bloomington-Normal communities.”
Corine Sims, the former director of the United Community Gospel Singers of Bloomington and Normal, collaborated with Illinois Wesleyan to found the festival in 1991.
After Sims’s death in 2007, her husband and pastor at the Second Baptist Church of Streator, the Rev. James Sims, took over the gospel group. “I promised her I’d keep it going,” he said.
At the festival, it has become tradition to play the audio recording of King’s speech at the Fred Young Fieldhouse. King’s words still resonate with Sims today.
“We still have segregation in America. It’s not over,” Sims said. “This festival teaches diversity and reaches out to people of all races and denominations. It reminds us that we are all God’s children.”
Since its creation 21 years ago, the festival has grown to include local gospel groups as well as choirs from Chicago and Springfield, Ill. IWU Chapel Gospel Choir Co-Director Reggie Cooke believes gospel music is a fitting way to celebrate King’s work.
“Gospel music is rooted deep in the fabric of African-American culture, which used spirituals to survive the toughest time in our history,” Cooke said. “It really speaks to where we come from.”
Cooke encourages students to visit the festival. “Gospel is one of the most moving types of music. Everyone should have the opportunity to experience its impact,” he said.
Teichman, who has been involved with the festival since its conception and attends every year, also speaks to the poignancy of gospel music.
“I like to watch the faces of the students at the festival,” he said. “The spirit of the music always draws them in.”
Women’s basketball
undefeated in conference
www.iwu.edu/~theargus
Volume 117 | Issue 12
January 14, 2011
Nursing fellowship comes to IWU
NEWS, P. 3
Best flicks of 2010
FEATURES, P. 6
Aiming for new
Illinois gun laws
OP/ED, P. 7
SPORTS, P. 12
KRISTIN FIELDS
STAFF REPORTER
COURTSEY OF FA.MTU.EDU
Steve Wiest, a jazz trombonist and composer, will play with the IWU Jazz Ensemble.
PHOTO COURTESY OF IWU.EDU
Left: The Fantastic Jones Family performs during last year’s Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Gospel Festival.
HANNAH GRIFFIN
STAFF REPORTER
Gospel Festival to celebrate 21 years of honoring MLK
Steve Wiest swings into IWU Jazz Festival
Right: Corine Sims gives a speech during a previous Gospel Festival. Sims founded the festival in 1991.
the festival is one of a number of events throughout the 2010-11 school year that honor the anniversary and the program.

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This year marks the 36th annual Illinois Wesleyan University Jazz Festival and will feature a performance by Grammy-nominated composer Steve Wiest. Wiest and the IWU Jazz Ensemble will perform on Saturday, Jan. 22, at 12:45 p.m. in Presser Hall’s Westbrook Auditorium. The event is free and open to the public, but it is specifically targeted as a non-competitive clinic for jazz students.
Wiest played and wrote arrangements for the Maynard Ferguson Band for many years and is a notable jazz trombonist. He has also toured throughout the United States, South America, Australia, Japan and Europe.
His solo CDs include “Out of the New” (2008) and “Excalibur: The Steve Wiest Big Band” (2006). Wiest received the 2007 Best Instrumental Arrangement Grammy for his unique “Bésame Mucho.” He currently serves as an associate professor in the Jazz Studies Division of the College of Music at the University of North Texas.
Professor of Music Tom Streeter originally founded the IWU Jazz Festival in 1976to encourage young musicians to continue playing. Currently, 13 different junior high and high school jazz bands are scheduled to participate in the event.
Streeter noted that this year’s festival goals include improving “the quality of jazz in Illinois by having professionals on jazz instruments work with bands and present clinics on their specialties.”
Students will play for judges and attend clinics known as “master classes” throughout Presser Hall. These clinics will be led by musicians from across the country who will work with the students.
“I wanted this to be an event where students could come without pressure, or feeling brow-beaten to excel. It was designed to be a chance for students to really learn from professionals,” Streeter said. Wiest will give his performance after a morning of leading master classes.
This year’s jazz festival will be the last hosted by Streeter, who is retiring at the end of the academic year. He has served for 40 years as director of the Illinois Wesleyan jazz program and for 36 years as head of the Jazz Festival. The jazz program will celebrate its 40th anniversary this year, and
The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Gospel Festival will return to Illinois Wesleyan University on Monday, Jan. 17, from 3 to 9 p.m. in the Westbrook Auditorium Presser Hall.
“Dr. King visited our campus not once, but twice,” said Carl Teichman, director of government and community relations. “This festival is a way to remember that he was a part of both the Illinois Wesleyan and Bloomington-Normal communities.”
Corine Sims, the former director of the United Community Gospel Singers of Bloomington and Normal, collaborated with Illinois Wesleyan to found the festival in 1991.
After Sims’s death in 2007, her husband and pastor at the Second Baptist Church of Streator, the Rev. James Sims, took over the gospel group. “I promised her I’d keep it going,” he said.
At the festival, it has become tradition to play the audio recording of King’s speech at the Fred Young Fieldhouse. King’s words still resonate with Sims today.
“We still have segregation in America. It’s not over,” Sims said. “This festival teaches diversity and reaches out to people of all races and denominations. It reminds us that we are all God’s children.”
Since its creation 21 years ago, the festival has grown to include local gospel groups as well as choirs from Chicago and Springfield, Ill. IWU Chapel Gospel Choir Co-Director Reggie Cooke believes gospel music is a fitting way to celebrate King’s work.
“Gospel music is rooted deep in the fabric of African-American culture, which used spirituals to survive the toughest time in our history,” Cooke said. “It really speaks to where we come from.”
Cooke encourages students to visit the festival. “Gospel is one of the most moving types of music. Everyone should have the opportunity to experience its impact,” he said.
Teichman, who has been involved with the festival since its conception and attends every year, also speaks to the poignancy of gospel music.
“I like to watch the faces of the students at the festival,” he said. “The spirit of the music always draws them in.”
Women’s basketball
undefeated in conference
www.iwu.edu/~theargus
Volume 117 | Issue 12
January 14, 2011
Nursing fellowship comes to IWU
NEWS, P. 3
Best flicks of 2010
FEATURES, P. 6
Aiming for new
Illinois gun laws
OP/ED, P. 7
SPORTS, P. 12
KRISTIN FIELDS
STAFF REPORTER
COURTSEY OF FA.MTU.EDU
Steve Wiest, a jazz trombonist and composer, will play with the IWU Jazz Ensemble.
PHOTO COURTESY OF IWU.EDU
Left: The Fantastic Jones Family performs during last year’s Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Gospel Festival.
HANNAH GRIFFIN
STAFF REPORTER
Gospel Festival to celebrate 21 years of honoring MLK
Steve Wiest swings into IWU Jazz Festival
Right: Corine Sims gives a speech during a previous Gospel Festival. Sims founded the festival in 1991.
the festival is one of a number of events throughout the 2010-11 school year that honor the anniversary and the program.